


Overflow

by ilookedback



Series: Hyggetober Challenge Ficlets [29]
Category: The Mandalorian (TV)
Genre: Bathing, Caretaking, F/M, takes place during episode 2x02, the pairing is vague and barely there but there are implications for a moment or two
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-03
Updated: 2021-02-03
Packaged: 2021-03-14 14:22:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,282
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29172582
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ilookedback/pseuds/ilookedback
Summary: “Don’t take this the wrong way,” she starts, and Din braces himself to be offended. “But you smellrank. You smell like you took down that dragon from the inside out.”“Yes,” he says.“What do you mean, yes?”
Relationships: Din Djarin/Peli Motto
Series: Hyggetober Challenge Ficlets [29]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1952407
Comments: 8
Kudos: 50





	Overflow

**Author's Note:**

> For day 30 of my Hyggetober Ficlet Challenge, which is based off of [this prompt list](https://www.instagram.com/p/B201-j7ljdU/?igshid=1pflwcl5260me) and will span several Pedro fandoms. Today's prompt is "bathtime."

After everything—the search for Mos Pelgo, the anticipation of locating his Mandalorian brethren, the shock of finding an interloper instead, and then the task of slaying a krayt dragon and the upset of his speeder bike crash with the bandits in the desert—after all of that and a long walk back to the port with his belongings balanced across his shoulders and a baby at his hip, Din is tired enough that it takes him longer than it should to pick up on the intent behind Peli’s gaze as she glances over at him on their trek back to the hangar together.

“Don’t take this the wrong way,” she starts, and Din braces himself to be offended. “But you smell _rank_. You smell like you took down that dragon from the inside out.”

“Yes,” he says.

“What do you mean, yes?”

If he didn’t have an extra 60 pounds weighing across his shoulders, he might shrug. As it is, he tilts his head to look at her.

“I did take it down from the inside out. I lured it to swallow a bantha laid with charges, and it took me with it. I used the jet pack to fly out of its mouth before it exploded.”

“Of course you did,” she replies faintly. “Of _course_ you did. Of course you got eaten by a dragon and lived to tell the tale.”

“It’s not a big deal,” he tells her. He can’t tell if she’s begrudgingly impressed or upset by his foolhardiness, but it doesn’t matter. He’s too tired to care.

“Well,” she says after a while, when the entrance to the hangar is just coming into sight, “Whatever the reason behind that smell you’re carrying, you’re not bringing it into my place. You need a bath.”

Din stiffens, annoyed. “Your planet isn’t exactly overflowing with hot springs,” he notes. “I’ve got a sonic on the ship. I’ll get the kid settled and then clean up.”

“No,” Peli says breezily. “Don’t worry about it. I did a job for someone passing through from Corellia and got paid in water tanks. You and the little one can have a proper bath.”

It’s oddly generous for someone who’s just tricked him out of 500 credits for her card game, but Peli is like that, he’s noticed. Brash and kind in turn. She’ll manipulate you into paying extra for repairs you never asked for and then share her best childrearing advice in the next breath. For every moment of selfishness, her acts of selflessness ring that much truer. She wouldn’t have offered if she didn’t want him to say yes, so he does.

“Okay,” he tells her. “Thank you. That’s very kind.”

She waves a hand dismissively and directs him to set down his load and get to work removing his armor while she prepares the bath. He hovers inside the doorway to his ship, stripping off each piece of beskar while the child watches him with curious eyes from his seat on the ramp nearby.

It’s a strange sensation every time, the lightness of being without his armor after having it on for so long. He feels his gait shift as he adjusts to the weight of his own body, picking his feet up too high with each step and having to correct his stride as he gathers a clean set of clothes and scoops up the baby, before heading inside to the living quarters Peli has adjacent to her shop. He follows the sound of running water into the bathroom and blinks in surprise at the large tub of water sitting against one wall.

“I’ve never seen a bathtub like this on Tatooine,” he remarks.

“I guess you haven’t been visiting the right people,” she says. “Stick with me and you’ll see lots of things you’ve never seen.”

Right. He shakes his head in amusement.

“Go on,” she says. “It’ll be ready by the time you’re undressed.” She pours something from a small bottle into the running water, making a miniature mountain of bubbles grow slowly on the surface of the bath. The child’s eyes go wide with wonder.

Din toes off his boots and tugs off his gloves and then hesitates, watching her casually watching him. She arches her brow.

“Alright, alright. Mister Modesty. I’m looking away,” she tells him, and she turns her head pointedly in the other direction.

He lets out a laughing breath and strips off the rest of his clothes swiftly, until he’s naked save his helmet, and he carefully climbs into the tub and lowers himself into the water, clean and hot and faintly scented with the sweet soap she’d added.

She glances at him from the corner of her eye before finally turning back to look at him again, safely submerged under the surface. “Comfy?” she asks. It’s her usual dry sarcasm, but there’s something a little gentle to her tone, quiet to fit inside the confines of the small space.

“Mmm,” he agrees, letting his shoulders sink below the bubbles. The heat is already seeping into his sore muscles, starting to ease some of the tight spots he’s been feeling for days.

Peli picks up the child and works her nimble fingers at the fastening of his coat, helping him squirm out of his underclothes. She sets him into the tub at Din’s feet, hovering her hands around him while she waits to see if he’ll float, and the baby lets out a delighted squeal at the sensation of the warm water, splashing his arms through the bubbles. She grabs a cloth from next to the tub and dunks it into the soapy water before scrubbing gently behind the child’s big ears, carefully cleaning his wrinkled skin while he coos contentedly and preens into her touch.

Din feels his eyes fall halfway shut, lulled by the warm water and the baby’s happy sounds. He’s on the verge of drifting to sleep when he feels the brush of the washcloth against his bare stomach under the water, and the pressure of Peli’s fingers behind it, sweeping the cloth against his skin. His abs tighten automatically at the feel of her hand on his skin and when he opens his eyes she has a strange look on her face, all soft and curious.

“Do you want to…?” she trails off, offering him the cloth.

His limbs feel heavy and warm, slow to react. When he doesn’t move to take the washcloth, she slowly moves it up, running it over his chest and shoulders and back down to his belly. It makes his breath go shallow, holding still for her and the rare sensation of another person’s touch. Finally, he grabs her wrist under the water, then slides his fingers to take the cloth from her.

“I’ve got it,” he says, voice roughened. She laughs, quiet and a little breathless, and shrugs.

“Suit yourself.”

“Will you take him out and give me a minute?” he asks, nodding to the child, who’s paddling contentedly at the far end of the tub. “So I can wash my face.”

“Sure,” she says. “Yeah, of course.” She throws a soft-looking towel over her arm and picks up the child, bundling him securely in the fabric. “Come on, bright eyes. Let’s go see about cooking that dragon meat, does that sound good, sweet thing?”

The child babbles back a response, their conversation fading away as they disappear and she shuts the door behind them. Din removes his helmet and places it next to the tub. Finally he takes a deep breath of the steamy air, closes his eyes, and sinks into the water until he’s fully submerged in the sweet, cleansing heat.


End file.
